Shares of Ocugen Inc. OCGN,
rose 31.0% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the biopharmaceutical company said its co-development partner Bharat Biotech released an interim analysis of its phase 3 trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, COVAXIN, which has an efficacy of 81 % showed. The Phase 3 study of Bharat in India enrolled 25,800 participants aged 18 to 91, and the first interim analysis is based on 43 cases. A review of the safety database showed that serious, serious and medically assisted adverse events occurred at low concentrations and were balanced between vaccine and placebo groups. “These results, which indicate in part significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging UK variant, represent an additional step towards the regulatory pathway for EUA and approval in the United States,” said Ocugen Chief Executive Shankar Musunuri. “COVAXIN, a full virion-based vaccine candidate, is designed to meet a significant unmet need in our national arsenal of COVID-19 vaccines.” Ocugen’s stock is up 3,071.5% in the past three months, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF IBB,
is stuck at 6.8% and the S&P 500 SPX,
has gained 5.6%.